The PuQ Press
Increased speed equals increased opportunity with The PuQ Press.
In order to create consistent, high quality espresso shots, it is important to understand each component. Small variables can affect the espresso shot significantly. These variables include:
- Grinder settings (which affects the size of the espresso grounds)
- Amount of espresso in the portafilter
- Cleanliness of the portafilter and espresso head
- Pressure and evenness of the tamp
- Length of pre-infusion
- Temperature of the water
One of the most difficult components to perfect and keep consistent among employees is the tamping process. Thankfully, we found an easy solution to this!
Normally, with a manual tamper, you must place it over the espresso grounds in the portafilter, press down with forty pounds of pressure, and push down evenly so that the surface of the espresso grounds is level. These steps ensure that the espresso grounds are tightly and evenly packed so that the espresso machine extracts the espresso evenly (which affects the taste). Unfortunately, it is difficult to press down with exactly forty pounds of pressure, especially with varying strength levels and heights of employees. Tamping evenly is also difficult to do, especially during a rush. When we opened our second coffee shop with a larger staff and much larger demand, we knew we wanted to create a system that would prevent as much variation in the quality of the espresso as possible.
This is when we discovered an automatic tamping device called The PuQ Press. After grinding espresso into the portafilter, tapping the portafilter once on the counter and smoothing the bed of espresso, you simply set the portafiler on the PuQ Press and wait two seconds for perfectly tamped espresso. You can adjust the pressure of this device to exactly forty pounds, thus eliminating any variants in pressure. In addition, the automatic tamper tamps the espresso evenly every time. With this device, your espresso shots increase in quality and your process becomes faster and easier. It also eliminates the occasional necessity to remake an espresso shot due to incorrect tamping.
The PuQ Press is also easy to clean and maintain and handles high volume coffee shops wonderfully. It is important to use a small brush to dust off any espresso grounds from the metal tamper on the device a few times throughout the day to keep it clean. In addition, there is a button that lowers the tamper for easy cleaning at the end of the day. Our baristas maintain our PuQ Presses well and enjoy this step-saving process. We usually have several hundred drink orders each day, and our PuQ Presses handle the large volume with ease.
We highly recommend the PuQ Press for your coffee shop both to increase your drink quality and to increase your sales. It was well worth the investment for us, and we are thankful we found this option. For more information on the PuQ Press and other products for your coffee shop, visit HOPE Coffee’s sister company, Shiloh Coffee Supply.
